Appreciation
by Emo Cowboy
Summary: When you give the girl you like a cake for Winter Thanksgiving, she's supposed to like it. Or at least pretend to. Or just tell you she appreciates the effort. Not slam the door in your face. [Chase/Maya I guess. Mentions of Molly/Calvin]


It was the first time that Chase had commemorated Winter Thanksgiving. And as he trudged back to Harmonica town, lugging the tray of untouched shortcake in his arms, he decided it'd also be his last.

When you give a girl you consider a friend -or as was the case with Molly, hopefully more- a gift such as the shortcake _he'd _labored all morning to make, and then hike all the way to her house in driving snow to deliver it, it was expected to be met with a "Thank you, Chase!" or a "Wow, this looks delicious, Chase!" or even a "For me? Oh, Chase, you really shouldn't have!"

Not a "Chase, I...I can't. I'm sort of having lunch with Calvin right now and..."

And that was it. No more words. Just Molly throwing a glance back towards Calvin, who sat there comfortably like the scraggly beast of a womanizer he was, sporting that thin, smug smile that Chase had come to know and abhor. Then with an apologetic break in her eyes, she shut the door on Chase, leaving both his affection and confection out in the cold.

He shouldered open the door of the Ocarina Inn and dropped the covered cake tray down like a sack of dirty laundry on the nearest table. It revolted him, to have the rejected treat anywhere nearby, but his fingers were stinging, numb from the freezing temperatures and the weight of the tray digging into them. He couldn't carry it a second longer without warming them up first.

After a few minutes by the fireplace, he was warm again. At least externally. Inside his heart felt heavier than one those chocolate-marshmallow cupcakes Maya had tried to make last week, that had left a bruise on his foot after she'd jiggled the pan violently enough to spring them loose like deadly projectiles. He'd gladly face a hundred Maya-marshmallow-muffin-mallets than have to relive those twenty seconds of vulnerability, of humiliation.

His eyes prickled at the memory, but surely it was only the heat from the fireplace. If he was going to...to..._cry_, it certainly wasn't because of _Molly_. It was just because nothing upset him more than ignorance, stupidity. Especially his own.

And then, since Chase's day hadn't been torturous enough, the shrill unmistakeable voice of one, and only one, person instantly killed what he thought had been a very enlightening and helpful jag of self-loathing.

"YAY!~ More cake!"

Chase whirled around to find Maya with the lid of the tray in one hand and held high above herself while she bent over to the shortcake, close enough that she could have easily snorted up a healthy nostrilful of frosting if she decided to take a sniff. The way her tongue was tracing over her lips, Chase half expected Maya's jaw to unhinge, and she'd swallow the entire cake like a snake eating a rat. Which, while disgusting, would have not surprised him in the least.

"Get away from that!" Chase raced over to her as she drew her free hand to the cream cheese-coated base. "That's not for you!"

"You shouldn't leave it out then, Chase! It'll spoil!" She placed her hands on her hips, her chin out with a hint of pride, obviously reveling in the rare moment where _she _got to at least attempt to boss Chase around instead of vice-versa.

"Who cares?" Chase crossed his arms with a defiant sneer, hoping his tone would be enough for Maya to pick up that he wasn't in the effing mood to deal with her pointless arguments. Then he realized how contradictory he sounded, and half-sighed, half growled as he brought a hand to between his eyes, pinching his fingers there. "Nevermind, just nevermind. Eat it if you want, I don't care. Just..." He lifted his head, swallowing down the break in his voice that was threatening to come up. "I'm gonna go. Brass Bar opens soon."

Without even waiting for an acknowledgement of his words, Chase abruptly passed by Maya to the inn doors. His hand was on the handle when she stopped him with a surprisingly strong grab of his upper arm. When he turned back to face her, her other hand was holding the _"To Molly" _placecard that had been on the tray opposite of her. His sudden movement to the door must have breezed it off the tray.

"Chase...? This was for Molly?" Her typically vacant, watery eyes were wide with concern.

The anger that burned in his expression was more of an answer than any words could convey.

"She's dating Calvin, you know..." Maya murmured, her gaze finding the floor.

"I know _now_!" He hissed through his teeth, wrenching his arm from Maya before ripping the placecard from her, crumpling it in his fist and tossing it to the floor. She squeaked and backed away

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry!" Maya flapped her hands in front of herself as though she'd just touched a scalding stove. "I shoulda told you...but I didn't know you liked her, Chase! I mean, I _thought_ you did, but you never tell me _anything_, I didn't know for sure! And...and well, to be honest, I couldn't imagine Molly turning you down, even if she was dating someone else!"

Silence. Any other instance, silence from Maya would have been the most welcome thing in the world, but now, all he wanted was an explanation.

"What um..." Chase could feel the tightness that had overtaken his entire body begin to dissipate, the knots that had bunched all through his neck and back uncoiling, everything within him losing its sharpness. Except his voice. "What the hell does _that _mean?"

"Nothing! I mean...!" Maya tugged nervously at one of her pigtails, and took a deep breath. "'Cuz you're usually such a butthead, Chase! If you like someone enough to do _that_-" she gestured behind them to the cake "-you must _really _like them, you know? If I were Molly – which I'm not! - I'd be so honored that you made me a cake! I would eat it all up even if it was the worst cake in the world, even if it was made of like, pickles and octopuses and mayonnaise all mixed together, if you made it!"

Chase let Maya's words marinate in his mind for several seconds. All of it was very true. That his way of showing his appreciation for someone – an occurrence that was very rare, because he did _not _appreciate most people - was to demonstrate it though the one thing thing that never failed to make him happy: cooking. That if he could make them half as happy through one of his dishes, that was worth it in the end.

Molly hadn't even given him that _chance_. She didn't want his cooking; she didn't want him.

While _some people_ had given him chance after chance, even _begging _that he cook for them. Begged and pleaded and whined that he please please please cook for them, not because they were a human garbage disposal (well, maybe a little because of that), but because they knew nothing made him happier.

He'd been staring out into space, past Maya, and finally he shifted it back to her. Save for her hands anxiously rubbing each other, her entire body was still, as if she wouldn't be able to breathe unless Chase spoke to her.

Chase ran his fingers though his mussed hair, drawing in a deep breath before starting. "Maya..."

Her held-in breath came out as an explosion of words. "Oh, Chase, please don't throw the cake away or let it sit out and get all yucky! At least let Granny try some, let her tell you what she thinks!" She didn't sound as though she even meant it, only that she was blurting out whatever storm of ideas had been gathering inside of her.

Slowly, with no indication he'd heard her, Chase walked around Maya, over to the table, and sat in one of the chairs in front of the shortcake. He kicked out the chair next to him and eyed Maya expectantly. She tilted her head at him, curious, and took one apprehensive half-step towards him.

"Come on." He motioned for her to join him. As though a light had clicked on, a grin split her face and she scurried over and plopped down next to Chase.

"Really really, Chase? I can have some?"

"Maya." He reached across the table and snatched up the silverware that was set out for any patrons, handing Maya the fork and using the knife to start slicing off a piece for her. "Nothing would make me happier."

* * *

><p><em>Okay this originally started from the idea that in Animal Parade, someone can give you shortcake on Winter Thanksgiving and you can give it right back to them. wth, right? Anyway, I have no other explanation for this. I can't stand ChaseMaya as a pairing so I have no clue as to why I wrote them, only that I just wanted to write Chase being all bitchy about Calvin/Molly (a pairing I like, and a nod to one of my favorite fics on this site) and this is what happened. Sorry if it's rushed or whatever, I wrote it in all of two hours at the library tonight. I'd like to think I did a pretty good job with Chase but eh. Whatevs and hope you had a happy valentine's day/tuesday!_

-EC


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